General election in Thailand 2019
The parliamentary elections in Thailand on March 24, 2019 were the first election after the military coup in May 2014. The military- affiliated Phalang Pracharat party , which supports the previous Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha , received the most votes. The opposition Pheu-Thai party, however, received the most seats in the House of Representatives due to a higher number of direct mandates. After the election, a coalition of 19 parties was formed, which allowed Prayut a second term.
background
The last regular parliamentary election in Thailand took place in July 2011 and was won by the Pheu-Thai party. This is close to the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra , who was ousted in the 2006 coup , but is still very popular, especially in the north and northeast of the country. Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra , who was Prime Minister from 2011 to 2014, dissolved parliament in December 2013 and scheduled new elections in the wake of the political crisis . These took place on February 2, 2014, but could not be carried out properly due to violent incidents in some constituencies and were subsequently declared invalid by the Thai Constitutional Court . The same court dismissed Prime Minister Yingluck on May 7, 2014.
On May 22, 2014, the military under General Prayut Chan-o-cha seized power in the country. Since then, political parties have not been allowed to operate. Freedom of expression, freedom of the press and other civil rights were almost completely abolished. The military junta, which calls itself the “National Council for the Preservation of Peace”, had initially announced a return to democracy within 14 months. However, this was repeatedly delayed.
Suffrage
The Thai parliament - the National Assembly - consists of two chambers: a House of Representatives with 500 and a Senate with 250 members. Only the House of Representatives was elected in this election. The 250 senators were appointed by the National Council for the Maintenance of Peace. When electing the Prime Minister, all 750 members of the National Assembly - both chambers - vote together. Since the senators are appointed by the junta, it was considered certain that they would vote for Prayut Chan-o-cha as prime minister. This therefore only needed 126 votes from the House of Representatives. A candidate from the previous opposition would have needed 376 votes in the House of Representatives because he could not count on support from the Senate.
Under the current electoral law, 350 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives are assigned as direct mandates in the constituencies. The remaining 150 seats are distributed proportionally over national party lists, with the party's direct mandates being taken into account. A party that already has many direct mandates in relation to its share of the vote will not get any further seats on the party list. A party whose direct mandates fall short of its nationwide share of the vote, however, receives additional seats on the party list to compensate.
Preliminary result
Preliminary final result as of May 8, 2019 (excluding by-election in the Chiang Mai constituency 8)
| Political party | Abbreviation | Votes (party list) |
% | Seats (constituencies) |
Seats (party list) |
Seats (total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phalang Pracharat Party | PPRP | 8,433,137 | 23.7% | 97 | 18th | 115 |
| Pheu Thai party | PTP | 7,920,630 | 22.3% | 136 | 0 | 136 |
| New Future Party | FFP | 6.265.950 | 17.6% | 30th | 50 | 80 |
| Democratic Party | DP | 3,947,726 | 11.1% | 33 | 19th | 52 |
| Bhumjaithai party | BJT | 3,732,883 | 10.5% | 39 | 12 | 51 |
| Seri Ruam Thai Party | SRT | 826.530 | 2.3% | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Charter Haipattana Party | CP | 782.031 | 2.2% | 6th | 4th | 10 |
| Others | Otherwise | 3,623,760 | 10.2% | 8th | 36 | 44 |
| Valid votes | 35,532,647 | 100.0% | 349 | 149 | 498 | |
| Against all | 605.392 | 1.6% | - | - | - | |
| Invalid | 2,130,327 | 5.6% | - | - | - | |
| voter turnout | 38.268.366 | 74.7% | - | - | - | |
Source: Electoral Commission of Thailand
Both the Phalang Pracharat and the Pheu Thai parties have declared themselves the election winners - one with the argument of the higher percentage of votes, the other with reference to their larger number of seats. Each of the two intends to form a government coalition.
The Pheu Thai party said two days after the election that it already had 252 seats together with the New Future party, the Seri Ruam Thai party and three smaller parties in the “pro-democracy” camp. That would be a majority, but it would not be enough for the election as prime minister, in which the 250 senators, who are allegedly unanimously on the side of Prayut Chan-o-chas, also vote. The Pheu-Thai party therefore tried to find more partners, namely the Bhumjaithai party. She also considered offering the office of prime minister to the chairman of the BJT Anutin Charnvirakul .
The Democratic Party has declared that it stands ready for a coalition government, but has ruled out any cooperation with the Pheu-Thai party. The news site Khao Sod English therefore already counted them as part of the Phalang Pracharat party camp, which, along with other, smaller parties, would have a total of 179 seats.
The elected candidate in a constituency in Chiang Mai province, a member of the Pheu Thai party, was subsequently disqualified by the electoral commission. He had donated money and a watch to a prominent monk during the election campaign. The election must be repeated in the constituency.
At the end of April 2019, the electoral commission announced that it would allocate the seats allocated according to party lists according to a different formula than initially assumed. Now even the smallest parties that received fewer than 71,000 votes (approx. 0.2%) will each receive one seat. This means that a total of 27 parties are represented in parliament - more than ever before - including eleven parties with only one seat each. The larger parties lost seats compared to the initially adopted model. The New Future party was hardest hit and received seven fewer seats than expected. As a result, the anti-junta coalition lost its initially accepted majority and now only has 245 seats. The Thai Constitutional Court found the new regulation legal on May 8th. On the same day, the electoral commission announced the names of 498 elected representatives. Two seats remained vacant for the time being because of the by-election in a constituency in Chiang Mai. Ten of the eleven small parties that were given an additional seat announced that they would support the Phalang Pracharat party and Prayut.
After the constitution of parliament, the longest-serving MP and former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai of the Democratic Party was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives on May 25, 2019 . After weeks of talks, a coalition consisting of the Phalang Pracharat Party , the Democratic Party , the Bhumjaithai Party , the Chartthaipattana Party and 15 smaller parties was formed, which has a narrow majority. In the election of the Prime Minister on June 5, 2019, Prayut Chan-o-cha received 251 of the 500 votes in the House of Representatives and 249 of the 250 votes in the Senate. The opposition candidate Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit received 244 votes.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Freedom in the World 2019: Thailand. Freedom House, accessed March 26, 2019.
- ↑ Willi Germund: Older Thais ensure electoral success for the junta. In: Frankfurter Rundschau (online), March 24, 2019.
- ↑ https://vote62.com/
- ↑ Aekkarach Sattaburuth: Pheu Thai to announce coalition. In: Bangkok Post (online), March 26, 2019.
- ↑ Teeranai Charuvastra: Sudarat Slams Phalang Pracharath's Claim of Victory. In: Khao Sod English , March 26, 2019.
- ↑ Election rerun in Chiang Mai as Pheu Thai winner banned. In: Bangkok Post (online), April 24, 2019.
- ^ List-MP calculation method is constitutional, court rules. In: Bangkok Post (online), May 8, 2019.
- ^ 10 small parties back Palang Pracharath. In: Bangkok Post (online), May 9, 2019.
- ^ Democrat veteran Chuan named House speaker. In: Bangkok Post (online), May 25, 2019.
- ↑ Maraan Macan-Markar: Thailand caught in power struggle as Prayuth forms coalition cabinet. In: Nikkei Asian Review , June 6, 2019.
- ↑ Thailand's military-backed PM voted in after junta creates loose coalition. In: The Guardian , June 5, 2019.